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Conversion Survey on Southeast Barn at Lancarrow Farm, Four Lanes, Redruth, Cornwall Name and Address of Client: Mr & Mrs P H Care Monument House 58 Coinagehall Street Helston Cornwall Date of Inspection: 27th April 2021 Surveyor: Christopher M. Gunn BSc MRICS The Old Parlour Polgear Four Lanes Redruth Cornwall TR16 6NF Conversion Survey on: Southeast Barn at Lancarrow Farm, Four Lanes Mr & Mrs Care _______________________________________________________________________________________________ CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION 2. OBJECTIVE 3. OVERALL SUMMARY 4. TIME OF INSPECTION & WEATHER 5. SITUATION 6. DESCRIPTION 7. THE SITE 8. CONSTRUCTION AND CONDITION Roofs Floors Gutters and rainwater disposal system External Walls Joinery Surfaces Adjacent to Property 9. SERVICES Gas Electricity Water Drainage 10. SUMMARY 11. CONFIRMATION OF INSPECTION Conversion Survey on: Southeast Barn at Lancarrow Farm, Four Lanes Mr & Mrs Care _______________________________________________________________________________________________ 1. INTRODUCTION Please note that this Report is solely for your use and that of your professional advisers, and no liability to anyone else is accepted. Should you not act upon specific points contained in this Report no responsibility is accepted for the consequences. The Report has been prepared in line with our terms of engagement already provided which have been incorporated into the end of this report. 2. OBJECTIVE This was to provide the client with a detailed report upon the construction and condition to accompany a planning application for change of use under Class Q. 3. OVERALL SUMMARY It is hoped that this overall view will help the reader to keep in perspective the detailed facts and advice which follow. A detached barn that I would imagine was constructed in the 1970s of timber frame construction which is overly engineered in terms of timber sizes. There are some remedial repairs required to the cladding and the roof structure, and some consideration in terms of future proofing the building with some attention required to some of the timber columns on the western elevation. Bearing all this in mind it is my opinion that the building can be converted for residential purposes with little in the way of remedial works prior to conversion. 4. TIME OF INSPECTION & WEATHER The property was inspected on the morning of the 27th April 2021. At the time of inspection the weather was dry and had been predominantly dry for all of April. The subject buildings were unoccupied other than for some items of storage. They have been used for some winter housing of livestock. Conversion Survey on: Southeast Barn at Lancarrow Farm, Four Lanes Mr & Mrs Care _______________________________________________________________________________________________ 5. SITUATION The yard is situated up an unclassified road between Four Lanes and Penhalvean, and access to the yard is over a cattle grid. The modern building lies to the northwest and the original timber framed building lies to the southeast of the yard. The village of Four Lanes is around a 5 minute walk and has limited facilities including church, chapel, public houses, primary schooling, garage and post office/general stores. Four Lanes itself is served by a reasonably good bus service with the town of Redruth being around 3miles distant. The properties are in an elevated position having far-reaching outlooks across the land to the south. 6. DESCRIPTION A standalone farmyard comprising of yard, former silage pit, old blockwork building no longer roofed and one modern steel framed farm building and one older style timber framed farm building. 7. THE SITE As mentioned, the yard is located off an unclassified road. There is a former silage pit to the northeast corner of the site. To the northwest corner there is a former farm building that has not had a roof (in my memory of over 20 years) but can be clearly seen as a building by the windows that have been blocked up. This is currently used as a storage area. The modern steel framed building is situated around 1m to the south of this and on the southeast corner of the site is a timber framed building which I would imagine dates from the around the 1970s. The land slopes from the road down towards the south and the site would appear to be dissected by a lane which is laid in hardcore. Conversion Survey on: Southeast Barn at Lancarrow Farm, Four Lanes Mr & Mrs Care _______________________________________________________________________________________________ 8. CONSTRUCTION AND CONDITION The roofs, chimneys and other external surfaces of the building were examined from ground level, and with the help of binoculars. All the roof areas could not be inspected at close quarters due to the remit of this survey. Inspection from ground level was undertaken with the additional aid and benefit of binoculars. ROOF A simple gable roof with the ridge running south to north. There are corrugated ‘big 6’ asbestos sheets with some Perspex and GRP skylights. I have noted a couple of holes in the GRP skylights that will require replacement. There is also damage to one asbestos sheet on the northeast corner. There are also some hairline cracks to the ridge details and some of the sheets; not uncommon with a roof of this age. During any conversion work there will be a need to re-cover the roof to a design and loading at no greater than the current corrugated asbestos roof. FLOORS There is a centre feed bay which appears to be solid concrete and the remaining areas are slatted flooring to allow for slurry and waste to congregate in the tanks underneath for pumping out. During any conversion a new floor structure will be required bearing in mind that this concrete is partially bearing on the existing blockwork walls. This could be cut back and a new beam & block floor could be added. Potentially some door falls will be required underneath this to support the beams. GUTTERS & RAINWATER Again, these are incomplete and during any conversion new rainwater disposal DISPOSAL SYSTEM systems will be required and these should discharge to a soakaway. EXTERNAL WALLS The walls are block on flat to just below floor level and the floor is supported in part on these where the floor is slated. This then becomes 6inch blockwork walling with external buttresses around the timber columns. The blockwork walls are to a height of around 1.5m and from this point up are vertical timber boarding which is butt-jointed. There are some boards that have been damaged and will require replacement. Again, it is worth noting that these gaps will need to be sealed in prior to conversion. The easiest way of doing this is by turning the butt-jointed boards into overlapping boards. There will also be a need to read the method statement that accompanies this report to confirm the manner in which this will be converted to meet building regulations. Externally where the timber columns are on show it would be wise to have these infilled and the blockwork walls should be re-rendered as a precaution. In terms of openings, on the south elevation there is pedestrian/animal access direct for the cows to the field and there is a vehicular feed bay entrance on the north gable wall which is only gated. JOINERY Not applicable. Conversion Survey on: Southeast Barn at Lancarrow Farm, Four Lanes Mr & Mrs Care _______________________________________________________________________________________________ SURFACES ADJACENT TO THE There is a concrete yard on the north which is below internal floor level and PROPERTY fleeting away. As mentioned, there is the slurry tank underneath the slatted floor. To the west there is an area of grass/hardcore which is adjoining the lane and to the south and east there is a former field, again below internal floor level and the ground is falling away. STRUCTURE The structure is not clear span but has a central post supporting the ridge. The columns are two 12x3inch timbers which are fixed together and significantly oversized. There is diagonal bracing on all columns. The side rails are on 5x3inch timbers at approximately 1.2m centres and the purlins to the roof are 7x3inch timbers at 1m centres. Again, this is significantly over-engineered. It is however noted that there is some softness to some of the columns on the west elevation. These will get the prevailing weather and whilst the heart of the timber is still hard the periphery is soft so during the conversion as a precaution it would be wise to add steel boots that could either be added to the base of these columns at foundation level or, due to the way in which the blockwork walls have been constructed with buttresses, steel plates could be put around these columns at the junction of the buttress and the columns. This means that any area that is soft and showing signs of rot is in effect obsolete. This is a wise precaution as in 10 to 20 years’ time the timber will have deteriorated to a point where the structure may become compromised which it is not at present. Conversion Survey on: Southeast Barn at Lancarrow Farm, Four Lanes Mr & Mrs Care _______________________________________________________________________________________________ 9. SERVICES GAS There is no gas in the vicinity. ELECTRICITY There is currently electricity connected to the building. WATER There is currently water connected to the building. DRAINAGE There is no mains drainage close to hand but adequate space for a septic tank or private water treatment works. 10. SUMMARY This building is now around 40/50 years old. It was constructed of good quality timber at the time of construction, far better than the new timber but there are some areas which are showing signs of the beginning of rot to the columns and I have outlined the best way to rectify this situation and in effect futureproof the building.

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